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BEHINDWOODS CELEBRITY COLUMN

REKHS UNDERSCORE

'HOW TO NAME' THIS GEM!

Dear friends of mine, far and wide, near and dear,

The response for ‘rekhs underscore’ made my week! Thanks a ton for every single mail /sms that flooded my inbox and suggestions for songs to be subtitled. Our 2nd ode to Thamizh songs is an all time favorite of mine and am sure many, no, almost all music lovers will agree.

Valaiyosai kalakalavena from the film Sathya, is a love song which matches the expectations of our ears and eyes equally. Released in 1988, this song shows the rapport between Amala and Kamal Hassan that’s so endearing…which youngsters today can identify with…without making a grimace or shrugging their young shoulders! It is the 3rd home production of Kamal Haasan after Rajaparvai and Vikram. Vikram Dharma was the stunt master (who is no longer with us today). SPB-ji has lent his voice for the villain Kitty in this film.

I spoke to Suresh Krissna, who directed Sathya, his debut film, in his long innings of 50 and still going strong! Suresh is a humble human being, very likeable from the 1st instance that you greet him with a ‘hiiii’ and extremely down to earth. He shared an interesting trivia about this particular song.

“I was Asst. director to KB sir in Ek dhuje ke liye (1981) where I was present when Lata-ji was teaching Balu sir how to pronounce certain Hindi words for his debut Hindi song. Life sure is a circle…5-6 years later, tables turned and it was now Balu sir’s turn to teach Lata-ji how to get the words in Thamizh right for this song! Apart from Kamal who wasn’t in the recording studio I was the common factor for both hit songs.”

When maestro Ilaiyaraja asked Suresh if they could ask Lata Mangeshkar to sing, since she was coming to Madras, his immediate response was “born and brought up in Bombay, it would be the ultimate pleasure for me, no 2nd thoughts”

As soon as the song was recorded, Suresh knew this was a sure-shot winner. And it remains ‘top of the charts’ in minds young and old even today! Lyrics by Vaali-sir and just hear this song, the words tumble out of Balu-ji and Lata-ji’s lips so mellifluously.

Here are the lyrics, in Tanglish with my subs alternating. Please watch the video, thank you Selva for spotting it for me.

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This page hosts the views of the authors of the column. The views are generally about films, movie reviews, movie news, songs, music, film actors and actresses, directors, producers, cinematographers, music directors, and all others that contribute for the success or failure of a film. People looking for movies online, movie reviews, movie analysis, public response for a movie, will find this page useful.